Personal Narrative: My Mother Never Went To College

My mother never went to college. Despite—or perhaps [because] of—her lack of collegiate experience, she was a powerful influence on my ever-present desire for academic distinction. For her children, anything besides “extraordinary” was simply not an option. The constant pressure meshed painfully well with America’s flawed education system, which—not unlike my well-intentioned mother—continually creates an unhealthy environment of apathy in the face of competition. For the duration of my traditional education, I made intense efforts for a false, unfulfilling concept of academic success. I sacrificed my emotional well-being again and again for fleeting validation from any surrounding adults, in a desperate lifelong attempt to prove my worth